Graduate Supervisors

Meet our Supervisors

The Department of Religious Studies is home to diverse faculty members available to supervise graduate students in a variety of specializations.

If you are considering applying to one of our graduate programs, we encourage you to reach out directly to potential supervisors to discuss your research interests and potential fit for our programs!

Asian Field

Our research explores various topics across Buddhist studies and the study of East Asian Religions. Various approaches and methodologies are encouraged, including textual, literary, social historical, art historical, sociological, and anthropological.

We study Buddhist literature in Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, Pali, and Tibetan; Modern and Contemporary Buddhism in Japan; Medieval Chinese Buddhism; Buddhist thought; doctrine and practice in East Asian Buddhism.

Research covers a wide range of topics: Taoist canonical literature, the construction of Shinto, Chinese science, alchemy and medicine, the New Religions of Japan, the relationship of Buddhism with indigenous East Asian traditions (Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto), religion and modernity in East Asia, and popular religion in East Asia as seen in literary works.

James Benn headshot image

James Benn

Professor, Religious Studies
Chair of Graduate Affairs, Religious Studies

Director, McMaster Centre for Buddhist Studies

(905) 525-9140 x24210 bennjam@mcmaster.ca
Shayne Clarke headshot image

Shayne Clarke

Associate Professor, Religious Studies

(905) 525-9140 x23389 clarsha@mcmaster.ca
Mark Rowe headshot image

Mark Rowe

Associate Professor, Religious Studies

(905) 525-9140 x23393 rowemar@mcmaster.ca

Judaism & Christianity in Antiquity

We focus on the study of ancient Jewish texts from the Babylonian Period (586 BCE) to the early rabbinic period (200 CE) and early Christian literature from the New Testament to the third century CE. We encourage a variety of methodological approaches to these materials.

Hanna Tervanotko headshot image

Hanna Tervanotko

Associate Professor, Religious Studies

Acting Director of the Gender and Social Justice Program

(905) 525-9140 x24239 tervanoh@mcmaster.ca
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Matthew Thiessen

Department Chair, Religious Studies
Associate Professor, Religious Studies

(905) 525-9140 x24597 matthew.thiessen@mcmaster.ca

Western Field

Research in this area is sponsored in various topics across the four main fields of study: Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies, Religion & Culture, and Theory, Religion, Politics.

Dana Hollander

Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Undergraduate Chair, Religious Studies

Member, MA Program in Cultural Studies & Critical Theory
Associate Member, Department of Philosophy

(905) 525-9140 x24759 danahol@mcmaster.ca
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Celia Rothenberg

Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Adjunct & Associate Member, Anthropology
Adjunct & Associate Member, Institute on Globalization & the Human Condition

(905) 525-9140 x24363 rothenb@mcmaster.ca
Liyakat Takim headshot image

Liyakat Takim

Professor, Religious Studies
Adjunct & Associate Member, Institute on Globalization & the Human Condition

Sharjah Chair in Global Islam

1 (905) 525-9140 ltakim@mcmaster.ca
Mark Rowe headshot image

Mark Rowe

Associate Professor, Religious Studies

(905) 525-9140 x23393 rowemar@mcmaster.ca
Ellen Amster headshot image

Ellen Amster

Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Associate Professor, Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences
Adjunct & Associate Member, Anthropology
Jason A. Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine

Member, McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA), McMaster University
Associate Member, Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, Faculty of Health Sciences

(905) 525-9140 x20006 amstere@mcmaster.ca

Information Box Group

Research in Religious Studies Explore Our Research

We actively encourage the research interests of our students. While the faculty and areas of research expertise have changed over the years, the Department’s commitment to the open, critical, and multidisciplinary study of religion — past and present, East and West, theoretical and practical — remains passionate and strong.